Sunshine
by Mikolaj
Summary: An AU based on the 2004 film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." sister story to "Spotless." Laura Kinney goes through the procedure to erase memories of Julian Keller after her past catches up to her. Hellion/X-23.
1. Chapter 1

-January 3rd, 6:52 A.M.-

Sunlight felt warm on her skin and blanketed her in a false illusion of safety. It was a warm morning sun that hid away the chill of winter that consumed the world on the other side of the window glass. She did not have to open her eyes; she knew that her alarm clock would go off in seven minutes and thirty two seconds, thirty one, thirty... she reached over and switched it off before it had even a remote chance of destroying the calm lie of a morning with its shrill, siren like sound.

When she opened her eyes, and blinked a couple of times to help them adjust to the bright morning light that came in from her east-facing window. It was nearly eight now, and the tear-off calendar on her night table told her that it was January 3rd. It had a small illustration of a snowman printed in blue ink in the lower left hand corner, and it looked whimsical. She didn't remember purchasing it.

Laura sniffed the air; there were several unfamiliar scents in her home. Three women, nearly identical, and one male, whose scent was more faint. He had not been there in several days. The women, however, had been there within the past twenty four hours. Had her location been compromised so easily?

If she was being watched, she couldn't let anyone know that she was. She had to go about things very normally. So she got up and headed to the bathroom to wash her face, which she found was covered in salt residue from crying. Her eyes were red and puffy. Was this in relation to the women she could smell, but could not recall allowing into her home? Laura splashed the warm water up over her face and scrubbed away the tears, trying and failing to summon up any substantial memory of the previous twenty four hours.

She shook it off and went through the rest of her morning routine, showering and making a nutritionally balanced breakfast and dressing for the day, to go to work at the college library. She liked it there, where it was quiet and anyone in there did not attempt to strike up a conversation with her. If she liked, she could take home a few books to read herself, as long as they weren't on a wait list. Laura ran through the list in her mind as she pulled on her wool coat and shouldered her bag, and she remembered that there was a collection of Voltaire's plays that she thought she might like to read. On the way out the door, after adding a scarf and pulling on boots and gloves, she tried to remember where on the shelf that might be...

- January 2nd, 9:33 A.M.-

"Do what you must," Laura gripped the arms of the seat and watched as the pristine doctor in white, Emma Frost, reached into the large bag and pulled out the first item that Laura had brought from home. It almost made her ill to look at it, but she had to keep reminding herself that it had to be done, it was the only way that he could possibly be kept safe. They could not track him if there was no physical evidence with which to track him, and they could not use telepaths to track him down from memory.

In one of her latex-gloved hands, Emma pulled out a four-picture strip and set it on the tray in front of Laura for her to recall. The photos had been taken in a booth at an amusement park. It had been her first time going to one, and while they were both posed awkwardly at first, with him trying to climb into the booth with her and the large stuffed bear that he'd won for her moments before, the pictures ended with one of them kissing, smiling and looking so very happy.

Laura closed her eyes.

-June 24th, 2:15 P.M-

Julian tugged Laura out of the booth by her hand and took the pictures from the slot where they printed out. He smiled brightly at her, his blue eyes sparkling, and he handed her the strip.

"For you," he explained after she blinked at it confusedly for a little while. Laura adjusted her grip on the large purple bear and carefully placed the pictures in the shoulder bag that she always carried with her.

"I do not understand. We came out here very suddenly. Why?" She tilted her head, letting him lead her over to a stand that was selling delicious smelling funnel cakes at exorbitant prices. Julian looked back at her and said, with that smile ever present on his face,

"Well, it's because you said-"

-June 24th, 10:12 A.M-

"I have never been to an amusement park." Laura said out of nowhere. She was sitting on the couch in Julian's apartment, wearing only one of his dress shirts and drinking coffee from a mug that he had given her. It said "Disneyland" on it and had an image of a castle with tall spires that had no real defenses to it.

She wasn't paying attention to the mug, but instead to the Weather Channel. There was nothing else on, so she and Julian were watching the footage of the decimation left behind after a large, sweeping line of tornadic storms had destroyed many neighborhoods. The aerial crew had taken several moments to linger on the twisted metal wreckage that had once been a very large Ferris wheel. Some of the cherry red cars were still clinging onto the irreparably damaged steel frame, but over half of them were missing. The person calling on the voice-over explained that the manager of the park had the foresight to pull everyone off of the ride the moment that he saw the storms approaching on the radar. He was being hailed a hero.

"Never?" Julian set his empty mug down on the counter and leaned over it to see the image on the flat screen that he'd hung on the wall. "After seeing that kind of imagery, most people wouldn't wanna go."

"In appropriate weather conditions, it could be... appealing." She curiously watched as the footage shifted from the wheel to the splintered remains of a wooden roller coasters. A chain of cars hung over the edge of what was left of a tall hill of track.

"Then let's go. Right now. We can go ride roller coasters that are in way better condition than that mess." Before she could retort, he went to go get dressed into something other than his boxers.

"Right now?" Laura leaned over to peer into the only bedroom in his apartment. She couldn't see him, but she could see his shadow moving against the far wall. He was pulling on a t-shirt.

"Yeah. Right now. Get dressed, we'll get breakfast on the way."

"Okay," she said without complaint, finishing her coffee and going off in search of where her own clothing had gone the night before.

-September 23rd, 8:30 A.M.-

Laura ate a forkful of pancakes smothered in maple syrup. They were light and fluffy and still very warm, like the mug of hot chocolate beside her, with real whipped cream on the top in a peaked swirl. Julian sat quietly across from her, every so often mixing his hashed potatoes into his scrambled eggs and taking large bites. He was distracted by his laptop, by the thesis paper that he had to write. So distracted that when Laura innocently reached over and stole a piece of his bacon, he didn't even notice.

The diner was one of their more frequented stops. She liked it because, in the early morning, it was almost always empty. He liked it because it always had internet access, and because the food was always fresh.

Something bright and yellow caught Laura's eye. She looked outside and saw a bright yellow school bus that was stopped in traffic. It was full of little kids, wrapped in sweaters and things, with character-covered backpacks. For the early morning, they were all loud and hectic, bouncing with excitement.

"Oh, yeah, elementary school gets in about this time, huh?" Julian said absently and ate a strip of bacon, frowning when he saw only four pieces when he sworn he could have ordered the plate with five.

"Elementary school?" Laura asked, and he noticed her fixation on the long, noisy vehicle and its occupants.

"Yeah. It's for little kids. Typically... uh... from five year olds to about eleven?"

She remembered the ages of five to eleven. She was in a white cell when she should have been attending this 'elementary school.'

"Did you go to a private academy or something, Laura?" Julian reached over to steal a bit of her pancake, but stopped when he saw the territorial look she gave him over her short stack.

"No. I did not attend elementary school. My first time in a school was when I was fourteen years old."

"Seriously? So you didn't go to middle school at all?"

"No. I believe that I attended Lincoln High school for a day before I was forced to leave San Francisco."

"And then?" Julian pressed. "You don't have any certified education at all? That's kind of-"

"I legitimately received my diploma." She finished her breakfast and sipped on the mug of hot chocolate. There was whipped cream on her nose, which Julian reached over to wipe off with his finger, and then licked off.

"Sweet. Just like you."

Laura felt a blush creep up on her; it was a sensation that she didn't feel very often.

-January 3rd, 11:24 A.M.-

"What's a beautiful girl like you doing stacking books on shelves? You could be a model." 

Laura turned to look at the young man that had quite literally sneaked up on her. She'd been so distracted by re-shelving the books that had been returned that she hadn't noticed him. His hair was white as snow, but she didn't detect the chemical scent that came with hair dye. His eyes were almost as green as hers.

"This is my job." She explained, feeling herself blush. He wasn't unattractive, this man, with a runner's build. He was very lean and tall, too, with at least six inches of height over her own. He took the last few books that she had and replaced them for her with a surprising speed.

This man was a mutant.

"Done now. You really should be a model, though. You're gorgeous." He winked at her, shoved his hands back in his pockets, and stepped out of the library. She could hear the music from his ear buds as he turned it up, and found that whatever he was listening to, she quite liked the beat of it. This person was worth learning more about.

- January 8th, 8:41 P.M.-

Laura had thought that she was alone. That she was the only person in her age group that they'd attempted to turn into a human weapon. But if what Tommy just told her was true...

"Did they experiment on you?" she whispered, though there was no one in the library to hear.

"Yeah. It was rough. They injected me with different drugs so that my body wouldn't wear down, but they all just made me sick. When they weren't running tests and trying to get me to blow up kittens, I was getting the hell beat out of me in general population."

"For me it was puppies. They told me that if I didn't kill it, it would suffer. That I was saving it," Laura felt tears fill her eyes at the memory, and suddenly his arms were around her, and he was making her feel warm and safe. This was a person who had been through similar horrors. This was a person who would not betray her secrets.

She let Tommy kiss her, lost in the feeling of safety that she felt like she hadn't had in such a long, long time. Laura wrapped herself up in it to the point where she couldn't see the student coming into the library; she couldn't see the nervous look on his face turn to one of hurt and pain and betrayal, and she couldn't see his eyes water as he fled the library.

She didn't even care to smell the salt.


	2. Chapter 2

-June 30th, 11:49 P.M.-

The scent of the salt in the air was thick and pungent along with the moisture. She could smell smoke and sulfur, too, with every firework that they lit off into the black night sky over the ocean. A mere second after Julian set the flame of the lighter to the fuse, the explosive shot up into the sky with a whistle and erupted into a bright light, dying the ocean a bright red.

Laura laughed, feeling Julian's eyes on her. Somehow, from this, she got a rush. She could feel the warm wind pushing her skirt around her knees and tossing her hair back over her shoulders. The sand was still damp from the high tide and the rain that had just come through, and the cloudy skies and distant thunder meant that the beach was entirely empty.

Julian turned on some music, and then another light wrapped around Laura. A warm, green light, fluttering over her skin like a thousand butterflies were flying around her and wrapping around her hand, drawing her over to Julian. He took her hand and kissed the back of it and smiled at her warmly.

"May I have this dance?"

Laura smiled and squeezed his hand, then twirled into his chest like she'd seen a dancer do on television.

"You may," she whispered against his lips, and they kissed and danced straight into the next day, with her the skirt of her white sundress flying up with every spin.

-December 26th, 11:15 A.M.-

They were trying to hail a taxi so that they could get to the airport. The plan was to spend the New Years' holiday in Beverly Hills with Julian's family, so that they could meet his new girlfriend and discuss his business degree. Julian's plan was to take her to see where he grew up, all of the sights, and then take time away to go to his family's never-used timeshare in Hawaii.

She stopped in front of a bridal boutique, holding the handle of her suitcase in both hands. The pristine white fabrics attracted Laura for reasons she didn't understand; the idea of marriage as a whole was not a bad one, but the dresses all seemed difficult to move in and even more difficult to fight in, should the situation arise where she had to engage in combat.

Still, she found herself glued to the spot as she stared at a dress with a long, flowing skirt. The bodice was embroidered with a pattern of lilies and seemed to be dotted with real pearls. The mannequin that wore the dress had on long, silken gloves and a long, tulle veil had been carefully placed on its head. For a plastic doll, it was dressed very well.

"What's the hold up, beautiful?" Julian asked, and even then she couldn't tear her gaze away from the elegant gown.

"Do you think that someone like me could get married?" Laura asked timidly, the question flying from her lips before she even intended for it to. It was a foolish question, and she knew the answer immediately; no. A living weapon could never do more than dream of things like getting married.

"Of course you could. I mean, who'd stop you? If that's what you want to do, then go for it." Julian grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Who would stop her? She didn't want to answer that question for him; she knew full and well who would stop her if she ever took the chance to settle down and possibly bring new life into the world. Laura just nodded along and let Julian put her suitcase in the trunk of the taxi with his, and held the door open for her like a gentleman so that she could slide in first.

He held her hand the entire way, even after falling asleep.

-April, ten years prior-

"Wake up, clone!"

Laura's eyes flew open just as the punch connected with her head, knocking it back sharply against the white-tiled wall. She could hear the crack of her skull and spots swam in her vision. She sunk down to the cement floor and immediately fell victim to her handler's steel toed boots, which she mercilessly drove into her ribcage over, and over, and over again.

"That's what you get for sleeping in. Were you having a good /dream/, clone?" She sneered and laughed. "What were you dreaming about? Leaving? Having a life beyond these walls?" Laura's head pounded with every word that was screamed in her direction, and she felt a heavy hand clamp onto the back of her neck. She was lifted up and flung into another wall; her arm snapped this time, at the elbow, as it buckled under the force of the blow and of her own slight weight.

"Of course you weren't. You don't know any life beyond these walls and you never, ever will." Kimura grabbed her up by the front of her pink cotton hospital gown. The collar of it was stained a dark red now from the blood that spilled from Laura's mouth with every ragged breath she took. She made weak eye contact, vibrant green meeting sickening, lab-altered amber.

The entire room spun out of focus, and Laura lost consciousness again—which she would undeniably be punished for later—but not before she heard the last words that her handler had to say to her. The mantra that would be driven into her head before long.

"You belong to me, X-23."

-October 11th, 4:40 P.M.-

"You belong to me," Julian laughed, hugging Laura close as they fell into a pile of autumn leaves. They were the best kind according to Julian, crunchy and red and gold and orange and already raked into a tall pile that was just begging to be jumped in. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." Laura kissed him, and she squirmed away from him so that she could climb up onto a fallen tree branch and comb the dry, dead foliage out of her hair. When she'd tackled him into the pile, she'd scuffed her boot, and it miffed her a bit, with the pair being brand-new.

"Hey, Laura, you should come with me this Christmas. To see my family. It's beautiful in California, you know. And I think my brother will like you."

"Okay," she agreed without question, her attention turning to a group of little kids in a pumpkin patch. A particular pair of children caught her eye, about five years old each, holding hands timidly as they went to pick their prize.

-April 5, 12:13 P.M., fifteen years prior-

She had no idea how far she'd gone; her little legs ached. They'd carried her very far already, from some desert into this area, this well-built neighborhood with gated driveways and giant houses. Nearby, she heard children playing. They seemed to be her age. Would it be okay for her to interact with them? She had never met other people her size before, and wasn't even sure that she could find the words to use with them.

"I'm the king of the playground!" a boy in a red cape shouted from the top of what appeared to be a tower. "So none of you had better get in my way!"

Laura hid herself behind a bench and peered out from behind it to watch him. He was fascinating and full of life, this boy, with his bright blue eyes and messy black hair. He was only a little bit bigger than her, but he already seemed to have such control. She thought that only grown-ups like Dr. Rice could be in control.

Suddenly, he trained his sights on her, pointing what appeared to be a recyclable cardboard cylinder in her direction. "Damsel!" he cried, and suddenly slid down a yellow-painted metal pole and then raced over to her to take her hands. He gave her a big grin; he was missing a tooth.

"Wanna be my Queen?" He asked her, and she was unsure. A Queen, she had been taught, was a position of high power in a monarchy, and a role that she was unequipped for. However, she gave him just a tiny nod, and that was enough for him to drag her off back into the tower. He placed his paper crown on her head and draped his cape over her shoulders.

She felt very important.

"Here, you can play with Cyclops. He's my favorite and I don't let anyone touch him but we're married now so it's okay," Julian handed her the action figure, and she examined it, while he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a figure that she knew to be Angel. She had read his file.

"So, come on, let's play fight!" He made Angel swoop around at different angles, and it took Laura a moment to realize that by pressing the button on Cyclops' back, she could turn on the LED light underneath the plastic visor. She turned the lit-up figure toward his Angel, whom he promptly dropped and sent crashing to the ground.

"Eeeeeeaawwwwkkkkraassshhh!" He added his own sound effects, complete with Angel whining in pain that his wing had been singed. "You're a natural at this!" he informed Laura, who was unaware that she had even been aiming the tiny LED lights at the plastic figure's wing.

-December 28th, 10:10 A.M.-

While Julian was speaking with his parents, Laura had been given the opportunity to sift through Julian's childhood bedroom and learn more about him. At first, she sat demurely on the bed and glanced around at the old posters tacked to the walls and the odd assortment of comic books and video games that took up a large shelf. Curiosity got the better of her, however and she opened up his closet and peered in past the clothes that were hung up there.

Far in the back corner was a cardboard box, marked 'Old Toys' in Julian's neat handwriting. They smelled familiar, so she tugged the box out and opened it to find an assortment of loose superhero figures. There, near the top, was the X-Man Angel with his dirt-covered wings and Cyclops, whose battery powered eyes no longer posed any imaginary threat.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Julian peeked in through his doorway and craned his neck, allowing him a good view of Laura, kneeling on the floor with a toy in each hand.

"I remember these." She murmured. "I played with a boy who had these toys. Once. Before I was captured again."

-April 5, 12:45 P.M., fifteen years prior-

"I'm gonna have to go for lunch soon," the boy smiled at her. "You should come with me if it's okay with your parents. My nanny's really nice."

"I..." Laura tried to find the words, but stopped speaking altogether when she saw the black SUV pull up to the playground. She saw Kimura through the windshield, looking like a cat that had just caught a mouse. Dr. Kinney was the one who got out of the car, though, wearing something other than a white coat. The shirt was purple and looked soft and nice.

"There you are," she breathed, looking relieved. Her heart was racing in her chest, Laura could hear, and she knew that she was in trouble. A lot of trouble. "Come here, Laura."

Laura? What was that name? She'd never heard Dr. Kinney use it before. Quietly, she handed the Cyclops figure back to the boy.

"I have to go. I am sorry." She whispered, and started to take off the paper crown and cape.

"Nah, you keep those. I've got more at home." he put the crown back on her head. "Is that your mom? She's really pretty. Come back and play soon, okay?"

"Okay," she repeated without really knowing what it meant, and climbed down out of the tower over to Dr. Kinney. It was Kimura's hand that reached out from the back and grabbed her into the backseat of the SUV, however, leaving Dr. Kinney to climb in quietly. The driver began to take them back, and Laura watched out of the window until the boy was no longer visible.

That was when Kimura wrapped the fabric of the cape around her hand and yanked, forcing the knot against her windpipe. She choked and struggled for air, gasping and flailing and trying her best to free herself from the constricting fabric, but it was a losing battle and the whole world around her went black before she could free herself.

-December 28th, 10:17 A.M.-

Julian watched her with tears in his eyes and he held her close, tightly against his chest so that she could feel the fabric of his shirt against her cheek.

"You've never talked about what they did to you before." he whispered into her hair, covering the top of her head with kisses that trailed down the side of her face until his lips finally met hers. "How did you survive?"

"I healed," Laura whispered in reply. "I always healed. And you are healing me even faster, I think." she said, and snuggled close to him, not wanting to let him go even for a second.

-January 1st, 12:11 A.M.-

"What do you mean, you were attacked?" Julian shouted and grabbed Laura firmly by her shoulders, gripping them tightly and making her want to push him way just to get him to let go. He took her half-packed bag and tossed it aside onto the floor so that the clothes inside fell everywhere. "Why does this mean we have to break up? Laura, answer me!" His voice rose louder and louder with every sentence as he tried to pry an answer from her.

"You would not understand," she said quickly, shoving her things back into the bag and throwing it over her shoulder. Laura could feel her heart racing in her chest, beating against her ribcage so hard that it threatened to beat straight out of it. "Just know that you are in danger, and this is the easiest solution."

"No, it's not!" Julian argued, grabbing her bag away with his telekinesis and flinging it into a chair as she grabbed for the quilt that she had earlier carried from their bedroom onto the couch so that she could curl up in it. "Laura, you've seen how strong I am, you've seen that I can take care of myself. For Christ's sake, I was on the recruiting list for the damned X-Men!"

Laura stopped in the middle of shoving the quilt over her clothes, and turned to look at him while she digested what he was telling her. 

"You refused it." she whispered. Julian ran his hands back through his hair in frustration, making it messy.

"Because they wouldn't let you come with me." he said quietly.

"That was your dream." Laura recalled the posters of the X-Men on his wall, how he practiced every day with his telekinesis and also kept up his physical strength and intelligence, so that on the off chance that a recruiter came by, he was in the peak of his health and they had no reason to say no.

"Not anymore." Julian leaned against a wall and she felt him watching her, with those eyes that showed every single bit of emotion that he had. She couldn't bear to look at them. "You are."

Again, she was frozen for a moment. Did she really mean that much to him? That he would give up his life-long dream of joining the ranks of the X-Men to spend his life with her, a person who could offer him nothing?

It wasn't worth the risk. Laura zipped the bag shut and pushed past him out into the hall.

"You are an idiot," she huffed, and took off down the hall. She could hear him bounding after her, but where he was built for physical strength, she was built for speed, and so she was easily able to outrun him. This only made him angrier.

"You know what? Maybe I am! Maybe I was an idiot to give up the thing that I wanted for years and years to be with the girl that doesn't even have enough faith in me to keep her safe! Maybe we should break it off, Laura! Maybe we should just fucking forget everything!"

It clenched at her heart and brought tears to her eyes to hear him shout such heartless things. Laura felt much like she did when Kimura choked her; she couldn't breathe and tears filled her eyes as she got onto the street.

By the time the tears had begun to roll down her cheeks, she heard the engine of his car and knew that he would pull up beside her before he did.

"Laura!" he shouted after rolling down the car window. "Laura, I'm sorry. Come on, please, just get in the car. I'll drive you back, and we can talk about this... Laura!"

"Go away, Julian!" her voice broke when she yelled at him. Didn't he understand that she was doing this to keep him safe? Because she loved him? That this was the only way to keep him out of those evil hands?

"No! I'm not going away! I'm not leaving you alone."

Seeing an opportunity, Laura turned onto a street with a barricade set up for cars so that they could repair a burst water pipe. She heard his car screech to a stop as he avoided hitting the barricade, then the honking of another car's horn from behind him.

She glanced back just in time to see him lay his head on the steering wheel and begin to weep, though her eyes fell more on the two gouges she'd left in the car door with her claws, from her confrontation with Kimura just a half an hour before.


	3. Chapter 3

-December 31st, 11:40 P.M.-

Laura glanced down at the screen on her cell phone that read out the time to her. She was already very late for meeting Julian; she had been expected at his home an hour ago or more. However, she had been held up by the delays on the trains and a high volume of people all around the city, filtering their way in and around Times' Square frustratingly. She did not care about traditions like that, preferring to spend a quiet night welcoming in the new year with him.

When she saw that she had very little time left after she exited the subway, she began to run toward the area where he lived, her bag hitting against her shoulder. Left and right she swerved, avoiding couples on the street and people heading to bars to continue their celebrations. More than once, the stench of alcohol and vomit filled her nose and she wanted to move off to the side of the road to throw up herself.

She took another look at her phone and was pleased with the time that she'd made. A brisk five minute run had been all that she needed, and his street was in sight now. It would only take two minutes of walking before she arrived at his apartment building. Feeling good about not letting him down entirely, Laura passed the small parking lot where Julian paid to keep his car parked, as did the other people in his building.

"In a hurry, X?"

Any good feeling that she had immediately vanished and she felt very much like her heart had leaped up into her throat. She wouldn't say the woman's name, she wouldn't, she wouldn't. 'I won't' became a mantra, a broken record, played on repeat in her head. Yet it was involuntary, and bubbled up from her throat like a scream would for a normal person.

"Kimura," It came out as more of a breath, a strangled whisper. She turned to look, gripping the strap of her bag tightly enough for her knuckles to turn white. There she was; leaned up against Julian's nice new red car, just like she owned it. She was still in the same uniform that she'd always been wearing, kevlar and treated leather.

Kimura's eyes met hers, synthetically altered yellow to naturally perfect green. Her mouth twitched into a wide smile; Laura was mildly surprised that she hadn't altered her teeth as well, so that they formed several sharp rows like those of a shark. That was how they were in her dreams anymore.

"Got a date?" Kimura pushed herself up off of the car and walked over to her. Where were the other people? Laura spun her head around from left to right but there was no one there on that stretch of street. If she screamed, it would be taken for a drunken partygoer, she was sure. When she twisted her head back to look at Kimura, it was just in time for her to see the fist heading for her nose.

Crack! Her nose snapped out of place in an instant and the elbow jabs to her neck and stomach were just as quick. Kimura grabbed her hair and slammed her face into her knee, breaking her nose even further.

"Such a shame you're gonna have to cancel." She tossed Laura onto the gravel and flipped out a cell phone, barking orders for a transport. So that Laura didn't try to run, she slammed her foot onto Laura's back while she was down.

It had been a long time since she had been forced to do this, yet it felt as natural as if it had just been yesterday; Laura tensed the muscles in her arms and popped her claws out, two metal ones in each hand. They sliced through the skin with great speed, and it stung horribly for a moment. It was futile to attempt to harm Kimura with them, she knew, but that wasn't what she was trying for. All she had to do was reach, and...

With a swipe of her arm, Laura cut through a nearby light pole like it was butter, severing the metal and wires inside with ease. The lot went dark, lit with only sparks and cracks of electricity and the light from nearby buildings, and it took Kimura only a second to jump back away from the falling pole and off of Laura, who rolled out of the way. There was a crunch as the pole landed on someone's car, but they had no alarm enabled, and the car did not belong to Julian. It was not of her concern.

Laura tried to run, but Kimura yanked her back by her arm and pulled it out of her socket, slamming her against her boyfriend's car. Her claws cut right through the door, leaving two long gouge marks. Laura winced; she knew that Julian took some measure of pride in the vehicle, and while he would not force her to pay for the damage, she would do so anyhow at her own insistence.

"You little bitch!" Kimura threw Laura's head back against someone's Mazda and forced her head through the glass. This car /did/ have the car alarm activated; Kimura leaped away from the sound just as the transport pulled up. A man leaped out and shouted; Laura could barely hear for the blood in her ears.

"We have orders to abort! Leave the little shit!" he cried. Kimura scowled and swore but left her anyhow; they must have been beginning to attract attention. They were gone within seconds, leaving Laura to pull herself away from the blaring, bloody car, and to retract her claws while her wounds healed. She hurried away from the scene herself.

'She can hurt Julian, we were too close, she could know where he is. She could have been watching him the entire time.' Hurting Julian was something that was not an option. She stumbled slowly along the sidewalk, heading into his building after using her jacket to wipe off a considerable about of blood. For good measure, she shook the glass from her hair and attempted to look strong.

He had to stay safe. But how could she ensure that? She couldn't ask him to leave the city, where he had friends and was going to college and where he could get a great career. She couldn't ask him to give up absolutely everything. When she reached his apartment door, and heard the sound of the TV inside, as well as what was probably him pacing, she knew the answer.

She took a moment to rest her forehead against his door. Laura covered her mouth to choke back a sob, and then took a deep breath before twisting the knob and letting herself in.

To keep Julian safe, she had to break up with him.

- May 17th, 2:53 AM-

Even asleep, Julian kept himself close to her. His strong, muscled arms were wrapped around her shoulders every night without fail. He would always kiss Laura when he woke up and saw that she was awake before him, and he'd kiss her even when she was still asleep. The closeness was something that she cherished with him.

So Laura cuddled close to him on this morning like she did every other, and she laid her forehead on his shoulder and smelled his body wash and the laundry detergent and the fabric softener. The radio was playing softly; Laura could make out a piano piece through the light filter of static. She wasn't sure what the piece was, but it was soft and quiet and she quite liked it.

She'd just begun to doze off as the piece ended, so she missed the small advertisement, spoken in a calm voice.

"Have you ever been through a scenario that you wanted to forget?" 

- January 1st, 9:45 A.M.-

"Met a person who you want to erase from your life completely? Now you can," Laura murmured as she read aloud to herself from the back of a man's newspaper. It was a simple advertisement, with blue font and a smiling photo of a blonde woman. "and Frost Inc. can help."

Yes. They couldn't use Julian against her if she didn't remember him. They'd have no reason to assault him. Aside from killing him herself, this was the best way that she could keep him safe. The address on the advertisement showed that it wasn't far from her current location, either. When the bus reached its stop, she hurried off and made her way through the cold street to find the clinic herself. If she was lucky, it would be open.

Keeping herself safe was a priority as well; she mingled in and out of larger groups of people. Even if Kimura saw her, if she tried anything, there would be too many witnesses for her to complete her operation smoothly. She moved with the crowds until she reached the clinic, whose door was mercifully open.

Laura stepped inside from the noisy morning street. Once the door closed behind her, it was completely silent, save for a water feature on the receptionist's desk. The entire clinic was full of nothing but a calming air. At the desk was a girl, probably the same age as her, was typing away at a computer. She had pink clips holding her short, blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Is it true?" Laura asked aloud. The girl looked up; there was no one else in the clinic that she could be addressing. She smiled, finished whatever she was typing, and turned her full attention to Laura.

"Of course it's true. Dr. Frost is a miracle worker. She's used studies on telepathic mutations and invented her own technology to mimic it. She can completely erase a person from your memory, with no trace left behind. All it takes is two visits to the clinic, one for a physical examination and one to map out the memories that need erasing, and then we visit your place of residence while you sleep to do the erasure. Once you wake up in the morning, you don't remember anything at all."

Laura chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"When is your soonest available appointment?"

The girl checked her computer again, fingers flying over the keys just as quickly as Julian's did when she'd seen him on his laptop.

"Um, well..."

"That won't be necessary, Phoebe. I'll see her now." A tall, blonde woman, the same from the photograph in the newspaper ad, stepped out through a door. She smiled in a way that made it seem like she knew every secret you could have.

"I am Dr. Emma Frost," She extended her hand for Laura to shake, which she did. "We were expecting quite an influx of patients for the New Year; it seems that you have the honor of being our first. Now, come along," Dr. Frost held the door open for Laura to walk back down a hallway that led to an examination room.

"Let's begin to erase whatever blight you wish to be removed from your life."


End file.
